Over the years, a diverse array of manual and automated tooth cleansing devices have been developed including electric toothbrushes, oral irrigators and flossers and many have enjoyed widespread commercial success. These have been generally directed at the important basic need to clean the teeth, gums and certain parts or the whole of the mouth area.
Nonetheless, many deficiencies remain with various of these devices, and for many people and in many situations, they are inadequate or unsuitable. Manual brushes, for instance, require the user to have a minimum, moderate degree of manual dexterity and the ability to firmly grasp the brush while moving it against the dental surfaces. The tiresomeness, difficulty and repetitiveness of manual brushing leads many to do less than is necessary; as was reported in Consumer Reports, September 1992, page 611: “People tend to brush for less than a minute. You need two or three minutes of manual brushing to do the job right.” And thus, some teeth and gum surfaces may receive inadequate brushing or are missed altogether.
An intriguing note is that some statistics show that nearly 75% of the adult population suffers from some form of gum disease, which in turn can lead to tooth loss. The primary cause of gum disease may very well be inadequate gum brushing and massage. This conclusion may be supported in part by the fact that dental professionals (dentists and hygienists) are rarely affected by gum disease and/or tooth loss. Interestingly, they use the same toothbrushes as used by the general population. The reason for this vast difference in oral health can be attributed to the fact that dental professionals (as part of their training) are taught exactly how to brush teeth and gums and most importantly, they comply with these cleaning measures every day. A logical conclusion is that gum disease is likely caused by human error. Additionally, flossing can be mentioned in noting that it has often been found as a cumbersome, time demanding and sometimes painful way to remedy some of the deficiencies found in the other methods, such as brushing, particularly when attempting to reach areas between the teeth.
Conventional electric or “power” toothbrushes, while requiring less physical effort on the part of the user, still often require human skill and dexterity to achieve effective results. These are often more complicated than manual brushes and are more expensive and require more time in maintenance. Moreover, brushing too vigorously with electric brushes can irritate the gums or cause them to bleed excessively, possibly injuring the gums or eventually causing them to recede. Furthermore, bleeding can spread oral bacteria into the bloodstream, a risk for users with various health conditions including heart and immunity problems. Because of these problems and/or similar drawbacks, children must often be supervised when using electric toothbrushes, and many children probably should not use them at all.
Oral irrigators (often using pulsating jets of pressurized water) and oral syringes (often non-pulsating jets of pressurized water), while of benefit to many users, including those with crowns, implants, braces, or non-removable bridgework (for whom flossing or brushing may be impractical or not possible), can also be ineffective if the water jet is not correctly directed to the area where it may most be needed for oral irrigation and stimulation. This may be a particular problem for an unsuspecting user if there are higher pressures involved which can exacerbate gum or tooth ill health.
Power toothbrushes and oral irrigation devices have been developed in many forms in the art. As a primary example, the WaterPik® oral irrigation device (from WaterPik Technologies, Inc., formerly Teledyne WaterPik, Inc., Fort Collins, Colo., USA) uses a piston pump which generates a high frequency (from about 1000 to about 3000 pulses/minute) water jet. Such a high frequency pulse can be uncomfortable to the user. The B. Braun Company (Braun AG, Frankfurt, Germany) has also developed some successful commercial oral irrigation and/or toothbrush devices. Similarly, sonic or ultrasonic technologies have also been developed and implemented in the art of oral care. Examples are available from the Sonicare Company, also known as Philips Oral Healthcare, Inc., Snoqualmie, Wash., USA (a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics, N.V. of the Netherlands) or the Oral B Laboratories company of Boston Mass., USA (the Braun and Oral-B brands and companies being subsidiaries of the Gillette Co., Boston Mass., USA).
A major shortcoming of many conventional manual and electric toothbrushes, oral irrigators and flossing is that they may be dependent on accurate human manipulation in order to achieve effective disease preventing results. The high incidence of gum disease in the general population provides convincing evidence that present means of tooth and gum brushing may be inadequate for most users simply because they depend on human skill. The present developments substantially eliminate the need for human skill. Many prior means and methods are not simply capable of effective operation; hygienic, comfortable, and/or error-free use; easy and inexpensive maintenance; with a cost-effective purchase price, for most people in most situations. Thus, there is a need for improved devices and the present developments fill these needs by substantially overcoming one or more of the foregoing or other deficiencies.
The present developments are presented as remedies of one or more of the above-mentioned or other defects of past devices and/or methods with the provision of one or a variety of dental care devices which provide safe, fast, comfortable and effective means of dental care for substantially eliminating gum disease for people of all ages, including those with implants, crowns, braces and bridgework, as well as people of limited dexterity, or other handicaps.